The present invention relates to printers, printing apparatuses, and printing methods and more specifically relates to a printer, a printing apparatus, and a printing method for forming a layered structure including a conductive layer.
Conductive members, such as wirings and electrodes are formed often by photolithography. In photolithography, after a conductive film (typically, a metal film) is formed on a substrate by sputtering or deposition, a photoresist layer is formed thereon. Then, the photoresist layer is exposed using a mask in which a desired pattern is formed to remove part of the photoresist layer into a desired pattern. Thereafter, patterning by etching is performed on the conductive film to form a conductive layer having a desired shape. Such photolithography can form a miniature pattern that can exhibit high performance. However, formation of the conductive film must be carried out under a vacuum. Further, it requires numerous steps, such as resist application, exposure, pattern formation, conductive film patterning, cleaning, etc., which may reduce throughput and increase cost.
By contrast, offset printing using conductive ink containing a conductive material, such as metal particles is being examined as a scheme for formation of a conductive member through simple processes (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-168578, for example, which is incorporated herein by reference). A printing apparatus in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-168578 includes a plurality of printing units (printers). Each printing unit performs printing so that conductive layers are overlain on each other on a substrate, thereby forming a layered structure of the conductive layers. With the layered structure, low resistance of electrodes and wirings can be attained.